Annual Report of Cosmetology vol.8, 2000

The Cosmetology Research Foundationhttp://cosmetology.or.jp/en/ Nichitoha-Hatchobori bldg. 5F, 3-11-8 Hatchobori, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0032, Tokyo

Synopsis of Original Research Paper

Voluntary Laughter for Promoting Good Health

Yasuyuki Takashita

Faculty of Humanities, Fukuoka University

KUBOTE WARAI-KOU (KUBOTE Laughers Club) is the friendly group whose members meet together in the foot of Mountain Kubote once a month and laugh voluntarily to promote their health. This study aims at finding the way of spontaneous laughing of the group members and the differences between voluntary laughs and happy-felt laughs. As the first step of this investigation, two hundred and seventy-nine subjects watched the video-taped voluntary laughter scene (about five minutes)of the members and appreciated the laughs in comparison with natural laughs. It is suggested that voluntary laughs of the group members is regarded as exaggerated in both strength and length. And so, observing repeated laughter didn't raise energetic arousal(or evoke positive mood) as the previous studies of humor indicated the stress-moderating effects of humorous experiences and laughing.